Design Studio South is a full-service design firm serving Savannah, Georgia, The Low Country, and surrounding areas. Our full-service studio, offers event and wedding planning, interior design, and graphic design. We work one-on-one with clients, brides and businesses to provide the best design and coordination experience.

Today’s mood board is brought to you by the Summer gods. The bright, pops of color and cheery, laid back feel make us want to throw on some sunnies and head out to the beach to enjoy the refreshing water. This Southern charm wedding was held in the backyard of one of the loveliest homes on what we are pretty sure is the cutest little road in the entire country. It was a gathering of friends and family who had a blast celebrating our darling couple!

What does the above mood board inspire you to do? Are you feeling all the Summer vibes too? Let us know in the comments.

Today’s question and answer is for all of you lovely couples out there in the throws of compiling your guest list and trying to calculate your ideal target final guest count number. We want to address one of our most commonly asked questions: What percentage of invited wedding guests attend the wedding? With the location of Design Studio South being in Savannah, Georgia we usually find that the number is around 80-85% of their guests RSVP yes. If you were to Google the average attendance rate of destination weddings you may find that the number we provided seems a bit high. We have found that our weddings net a higher attendance rate and we think there are a couple of reasons for this.

one:: Savannah is a beautiful location for a destination wedding, and unlike a small, tropical island, not difficult to get to. Our city is easily accessible by plane {a variety of international airports within 2 hours of Savannah}, train, and automobile. The costs of travel do not tend to add up as quickly as other locations and therefore the wedding is not considered as much of a monetary burden to some guests.

two :: We find that our lovely city has made it’s way onto most people’s bucket lists of places to go. So a wedding gives your guests the perfect occasion to check it off said list. With so many other great cities in the surrounding area, we have found that some guests extend their trip on either end and explore cities like Tybee Island, Hilton Head, or Charleston, South Carolina.

three :: Considering reasons one and two above we have also noticed that wedding guests tend to make your wedding weekend into a vacation week for themselves. Your wedding time acts as the perfect time for them to take the family trip of the year or use some accumulated time off they have coming to them from work. This may be the exact type of trip they have been saving up for all year.

We hope this piece of advice helps you out with your initial planning and budget analysis. As always, check back on Monday to see our latest mood board, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Happy Thursday everyone! This week on Thursday Threads, I’m bringing to you some of my favorite jewelry picks for under $50. It’s always fun to update your glitzy collection, but a lot of times these shopping sprees can cause sticker shock. Not today! Click on the pics below to see just how affordable keeping your style fresh can be :)

I hope you have a fun time shopping and adding to your collection! Check back for Social Saturday!

This early Spring wedding has just the perfect combination of fresh peach tones + dusty gray greens. Alison + Nic wed in Forsyth Park one early March weekend. The newly budding and blooming park was the perfect backdrop for the couple’s nuptials, not to mention beautiful couple’s portraits. Under the Spanish moss they exchanged their vows and then headed off to party the night away at Bryson Hall. See all the Spring details below.

Happy Friday everyone! This Friday on Friday Favorites I want to share with you some of our favorite bridesmaids gifts. The people who stand up next to you as you marry the person you love are important, so it’s crucial to show them how much you appreciate them! They’re there for everyone stressful decision, every tasting and fitting. They’ll feel loved, and have something they can use in the future to remember your special day by.

Monogrammed Totes

These adorable tote bags come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors – perfect to personalize for each bridesmaid. They’re great for running errands, going to the beach, really anything. Get them monogrammed or with their name – picture linked to the site!

Jewelry Tray and Bangle

These beautiful customized jewelry trays and bangles are a sweet way to say “thank you for being a part of my special day”. Classy, elegant, and they’ll never go out of style. It’s something they’ll have in their jewelry box forever.

Comfy Shorts

I love these shorts. Nothing says thank you more than something your bridesmaids can slip in to at the end of the day with a glass of wine and just relax in. The cursive is sweet and the seersucker is classic. Get each of them a pair!

Luxury Robe

These day-of robes are becoming a classic for a reason – they’re terrific. Monogramed for each special girl and made of luxurious silk that will last for a lifetime, everyone woman can use a robe to relax in after a stressful day.

Thank you so much for reading, and be sure to check back for Real Wedding Sunday!

Happy Wednesday, everybody! It’s the middle of the week and what better way to get to the weekend faster than to be introduced to another member of our DSS team! This week, I’d like you to meet Olivia, our summer intern! Last year, Olivia was the Special Events Coordinator for her sorority, planning all of the Greek Week and Homecoming events for her group. She fell in love with the planning process, and the rest is history. Her favorite part of working the day of a wedding is getting to spend time with the bride and her bridesmaids. She loves hearing how the couple met and the story of how they got to their special day. Her piece of advice for brides is to keep things in perspective; if you’re stressing over a small detail, think about if you’ll remember that detail in 10 years or if your guests will notice it.

Thanks for reading, and keep an eye out for Olivia in future DSS posts and pictures! See ya’ll on Friday for Friday Favorites… I wonder what this week’s pick will be?

Happy Monday! Today’s mood board provided the inspiration to pull together the most fabulous fete on Spring Island in the Fall. The softest of blushy pink tones are balanced out with cool, rich navy and regal, royal gold. Natural elements were utilized to have the design blend in seamlessly with the natural beauty on the private island. Greenery abounded under the beautiful sail cloth tent. It was an incredibly detailed, elegant event!

We hope the above mood board and color palette helps to inspire you for your very own event. Be sure to check back on Mondays when we plan to share additional mood boards that we have dreamed up!

Today is Social Saturday, where we answer some of our most frequently asked questions. This Saturday, we’re going to talk about bridal hair for the Summer. We often get asked whether we recommend a bride wear her hair down or up for her special day. We recommend that a bride wear her hair up because of the high temperatures and humidity that so often accompany Summer days especially here in the South. It’s easier to control the frizz and the bride’s temperature when her hair is safely tucked away into a beautiful bun or chignon. Check out some of our favorite up-dos for the Summer!

One trend we are loving this year is the use of flowers and jewel accessories to accent the hair style. We are certainly drawn to soft and romantic updos but what is great is that each hair style has it’s own unique personality, from classic to romantic, glitzy to flirty and fun. Our brides should be able to find just the perfect look for their summer day.

Check back for Mood Board Monday and see what we’ve been thinking up while we’ve been away!

Happy Thursday everyone! Only two more days until the weekend, and we can bet that many of you have a wedding (or five) coming up. It can be expensive to dress yourself for these summer soirees, especially when you see a lot of the same people time and time again. Sometimes I’m ok being a Lizzy McGuire outfit repeater, but sometimes I know it will be the fourth time I’m wearing my LBD to an event this month. You want to look good, be comfortable, and still look fabulous dancing the night away. Below are some of our favorite summer wedding dresses, all below $100. Stock up now (summer sales) and always have an option for that second weekend wedding you’re going to attend.

Lace Lace Lace

This dress from Nordstrom balances formal and casual so well that it could be used for either occasion. With it’s detailed neckline, you can dress it up with large earrings and chic heels or dress it down with flats and loose hair. You’ll have everyone wondering how you managed to afford something from a couture line, when you really only spent $98 at Nordstrom.com.

Mellow Yellow

I can’t get over the color of this dress. This yellow is muted enough to wear to a formal event and vibrant enough to make any woman feel fierce. You can dress it up with an amazing necklace or dress it down with a funky colored belt and casual wedges. Throw on a big hat and give it the ultimate southern charm. Only $90 from Modcloth.com.

Patterned Fun

Sometimes it can be hard to find a patterned dress that you don’t feel calls all of the attention from the bride. I love the muted floral design and classic cut that’s great for someone with an hourglass figure. Wear it indoors or outdoors with a sweater or not. The thick straps will hide any undergarments that always seem to fall down when you least expect it. Only $90 from Modcloth.com.

Ready For Anything

A blank canvas waiting to be painted on! You could add pretty much anything to this dress to make it appropriate for any occasion. Leave it as is and wear it with your best heels and your favorite hair, or go all-out and draw your pain-staking cat eye with your sparkliest necklace to make it formal enough for black-tie. $83 from Nordstrom.com.

Maxi-mum Floral

It’s always good to have a maxi dress in your closet for when you know it’s going to be cold at the wedding venue. Because of the pattern you can go jewelry-less to make a casual statement or wear a bold piece for a fancier look. I would love to see this with a braided bun and large earrings, so if you can make this dream come true send me a pic! $70 from Bloomingdales.com.

Thank you so much for reading and be sure to check back for more posts on your favorite fashion items! Tune in later this week for Social Saturday :)

As Summer heats up so does the wedding calendar in many places, but what some might not realize is that in the southeastern part of the country we’re starting to slow down since it’s just too darn hot to do anything. But our slower event calendar does allow us to plan ahead with many of our Fall and Spring brides. While putting together design plans and attending meetings, we realized that we use several terms that are wedding + event design specific, sometimes leaving our clients quite puzzled. So this Technical Tuesday we’re sharing with you the different types of lighting that one might see us use in our design plans and hear us reference.

T W I N K L E L I G H T S

Twinkle lights are what might be more commonly called Christmas lights. They have a smaller bulb and provide a twinkling effect. They can be used in the top of tents or strewn in bushes or wrapped around trees for a magical look. They tend to be the least expensive of the lighting options.

C A F E L I G H T S

Picture these lights hanging outside of a sweet little Parisian cafe. They have a bigger bulb than twinkle lights and the bulb is more round in shape. They come in clear as well as various frosted glazes. This option looks simply spectacular spanning the tops of tents or open outdoor areas where you need to provide some ambient lighting. While cafe lights are slightly more expensive than twinkle lights, they tend to provide the same amount of light as lots of twinkle lights, so the cost tends to even out.

E D I S O N O R O L D F A S H I O N E D L I G H T S

Lastly, we’re sharing with you Edison or Old Fashioned Lights. These lights get their name from their unique bulbs, where you can see the filament detail inside (much like the ones originally created by Thomas Edison). This lighting is so unique and can be a beautiful accent or detail to an event. We suggest using them in areas where they can be easily seen by guests for their special beauty. This tends to be the most expensive option in lighting, but it certainly creates the most perfect glow for special areas of your event that you want to call attention to.

Edison or Old Fashioned Light bulbs also come in a variety of different, interesting shapes. Here are just a few to provide you an idea of the options.

Check back to our blog for future Technical Tuesday posts and for more information on wedding + event terminology.